Chapter 159: The Blind Man’s Eyes
Those were two gazes. Their owner flew through the air, patrolling the grasslands. Two beams of light descended, golden and brilliant, illuminating the prairie. They swept past the small village at the foot of this hillside and then faded into the distance.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, opened the door, and looked up at the sky. He saw the two great stars trailing pillars of light, covering an area of six or seven li in radius, moving farther and farther away.
“I wonder how Senior Brother Bashan is doing…”
He was genuinely worried.
The one who had just passed by should be a powerhouse from the Loulan Golden Palace, an existence on the level of a Shaman King. They had been searching all along the way. The Azure Ox had left no traces, and this village was hidden in the mountains and forests. The villagers were all elderly, sleeping early with no lights on, so this Shaman King hadn’t discovered the village.
But the fact that this Shaman King had flown over searching for them meant that Sacrificial Officiant Bashan hadn’t stopped him. It was very likely that Sacrificial Officiant Bashan was already injured or trapped in a siege.
“Time to sleep!”
Qin Mu tossed a small jade bottle to Ling Yuxiu and said decisively, “Sister, dragon’s saliva has a miraculous effect on your injuries. Apply it to your body first, then go to sleep immediately. We’ll set out at dawn tomorrow!”
Ling Yuxiu nodded and went into the house. After a moment, the girl opened the door and poked her head out. Her jet-black hair hung down over her chest, revealing half of a smooth shoulder, while the rest of her body was hidden behind the door. She looked a bit shy. “Cowherd, there are some places I can’t see. It’s inconvenient to apply…”
“I’ll help you!”
Fox Ling’er rushed over excitedly, laughing. “I’ll help you apply it! No need to trouble the young master!”
The night passed without incident.
The next day, before the sky was fully light, Qin Mu was already up, stretching his limbs. Several elderly villagers had also risen. The sounds of feeding chickens, driving sheep out of their pens, and the elderly exchanging greetings drifted over. For a moment, Qin Mu felt as if he were back in the Cripples’ Village in the Great Wasteland.
“Young couple, are you up yet? Breakfast is ready! Come to my house to eat!” The old grandmother’s voice came from outside the door.
Qin Mu responded, called for Ling Yuxiu and the Azure Ox, then fished Fox Ling’er out from under the covers and walked out of the dilapidated house.
Just then, a voice came from outside the village: “There’s a village here. Let’s ask for directions.”
“Ask for what? I can’t possibly be lost!”
A fiery voice sneered, “I’ve been there before! I even blocked the place for a hundred days! How could I be lost?”
Qin Mu was stunned, an expression of disbelief spreading across his face. He quickly walked toward the village entrance.
“Asking for directions can’t hurt. You said you remembered the way, but you’ve been leading me around the grasslands for so long. I’m not that cripple who runs so fast…”
Qin Mu hurried to the village entrance. There, a blind man was tapping his way forward with a bamboo staff. Beside him was a half-bodied old man with a scruffy beard, two butcher knives strapped to his back, looking fierce and menacing.
Qin Mu was overjoyed. He rushed over, grabbed the half-bodied old man without a word, hugged him tightly, then tossed him aside and embraced the thin, withered old blind man with all his might.
“Butcher, I told you we took the wrong way again!”
The blind man quickly turned his head to avoid Qin Mu, struggling as he said to the Butcher, who was lying in a corner with a dazed expression, “You said you were taking me beyond the border. And what happened? You led me back to the Great Wasteland, back to our village! Mu’er, let go! You’re choking me! Where’s the Village Chief? Has Granny come back too? Apothecary, Apothecary, stop hiding! I can see you!”
After a moment, the blind man and the Butcher greeted the elderly villagers. The villagers saw that these two were even older than themselves and also disabled, and they were all deeply impressed, silently praising their resilience in old age.
Ling Yuxiu came out of the house, having just washed her hair. When she saw the two old men, she was startled and quickly ducked back inside, her heart pounding. “Those are the two old men who scared me and Young General Qin on the Yong River that day!”
Qin Mu moved away from the villagers, took out the cloth bag at his waist, lifted its bottom, and reached inside to rummage. After a moment, he pulled out two golden legs, then dragged out half a golden torso. “Grandpa Butcher, is this shiny lower half the one you lost?”
“No. That’s not my body.”
The Butcher examined the gleaming lower half. After a moment, he slashed one of the legs with his knife, touched the golden blood that flowed out, and said suspiciously, “This body seems to belong to the Shaman Venerable. I fought that old bastard once. I’m very familiar with his blood. This lower half is mostly dead. It’s useless.”
Qin Mu also stepped forward to touch the golden blood. The blood was semi-coagulated but still contained traces of fiery energy. One drop even moved along his fingertip, trying to burrow into his body.
Qin Mu quickly activated his primal energy, transforming it into Vermilion Bird primal energy, and burned it continuously. It took considerable effort to dry up that drop of blood. He said, “If this is the Shaman Venerable’s lower half, then Grandpa Butcher’s lower half must be on the Martial Venerable.”
“That old bastard admired me so much he went this far?”
The Butcher stroked his beard, looking smug. “So, if he has a son, is it his son or mine?”
The stubble on his face was as hard as steel needles, making a scratching sound as his hand passed over it.
The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became, and he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The blind man said unhurriedly, “If he really did give birth to a son for you, or even a whole litter of sons, would you acknowledge them or not?”
The Butcher was stunned, then his face fell. His earlier smugness vanished without a trace.
The blind man’s words left the Butcher utterly dejected. He then said to Qin Mu, “Mu’er, why are you here?”
Qin Mu explained the whole story. The blind man exclaimed, “You actually went to block the gate of the Loulan Golden Palace? That was bold. I came out with the Butcher this time to go to the Loulan Golden Palace too. We found out that the Butcher’s lower half was taken by the Golden Palace. The Butcher says he wants to get it back, but I don’t know if it can still be reattached.”
Qin Mu smiled. “If the lower half is dead, it definitely can’t be reattached. But since Grandpa Butcher’s lower half is on the Martial Venerable, he must have attached it while it was still alive. As long as we find the Martial Venerable, cut off his lower half, I can help Grandpa Butcher reattach his body!”
The blind man smiled. “That’s a small matter. That bastard Butcher will finally be whole. Before, he didn’t even have a bird.”
The Butcher flew into a rage. “I can manifest my body with primal energy! How can you say I don’t have a bird? I can piss and shit just fine!”
The two started arguing again, giving Qin Mu a headache.
Qin Mu quickly said, “Senior Brother Bashan is still trapped in the Loulan Golden Palace. His life or death is unknown. Two grandfathers…”
The Butcher shook his head. “Don’t worry about that bastard. He has no filter on his mouth. He blabs everything, chattering endlessly. When I met him in Yancheng, I was surprised he hadn’t been beaten to death for saying the wrong thing. I found him too talkative and was afraid he’d latch onto me, so I left.”
Despite his words, he immediately wanted to set off for the Loulan Golden Palace, still worried about Sacrificial Officiant Bashan’s safety.
Fox Ling’er and Ling Yuxiu had already packed their bags. Ling Yuxiu went to the old grandmother and the old man’s house and left a few gold ingots. Although they had only stayed for one night, the elderly villagers had taken good care of them. The village had no young people, so leaving some money would help them in their old age.
The Butcher looked at Ling Yuxiu. He clearly didn’t remember this Seventh Princess. He laughed. “Not bad, kid. You’ve got good taste. This girl isn’t bad-looking.”
Ling Yuxiu bravely stepped forward and greeted him and the blind man. “The Azure Ox went out to graze this morning and hasn’t come back yet.”
“Let’s go find him.”
The group left the village and saw a giant azure ox grazing on the grassland. As it chewed, tears streamed down its face like rain. It muttered to itself, “Ever since I followed my master, I’ve always eaten vegetables, never grass. My master even built me a few acres of vegetable garden and planted flowers for me…”
Fox Ling’er ran over and said, “Ox Two, stop crying. Your master’s master is here! Your master is saved!”
When the Azure Ox saw the blind man and the Butcher, who was only half a body, its ox face twitched. It had some doubts about their abilities.
Everyone climbed onto the ox’s back. Qin Mu said, “Azure Ox, don’t worry. They’re very powerful. Let’s hurry to the Loulan Golden Palace and save Senior Brother Bashan.”
The Azure Ox had no choice but to turn and run back the way they came. On the ox’s back, Ling Yuxiu looked back. The small mountain village had disappeared into the forest, no longer visible.
“Those elderly villagers said that the khans beyond the border are fighting each other, attacking and counterattacking. This shows that the rise of the Yancheng Kingdom has made them feel threatened.”
Ling Yuxiu composed herself and said, “They also want to establish a unified empire, gather all their strength, and contend with Yancheng. This khan of the Mandi Kingdom must be an ambitious ruler with grand aspirations. If he unifies the lands beyond the border, our Yancheng Kingdom will be in trouble. And our internal strife is already frequent…”
Qin Mu nodded. “The Loulan Golden Palace must be behind this. After all, it’s a sacred land. If it supports the khan of the Mandi Kingdom, unifying the lands beyond the border wouldn’t be difficult. I suspect the Golden Palace is also hesitant, worried about cultivating another Yancheng Kingdom and losing control over the borderlands. That’s why the Mandi Kingdom hasn’t unified the borderlands yet.”
Ling Yuxiu thought about it and realized he was right.
However, the three sacred lands within the Yancheng Kingdom—the Dao Sect, the Great Thunderclap Monastery, and the Demon Sect—did not support the Yancheng Kingdom. Not only did they not support it, but some sects were even causing rebellions.
If the Mandi Kingdom received full support from the Golden Palace, it might gain the strength to attack Yancheng.
The Azure Ox galloped along for half a day. Suddenly, the blind man said, “Stop.”
The Azure Ox quickly halted. The blind man pointed southwest. “Go that way. I saw someone fighting over there.”
The Azure Ox was puzzled. The blind man saw someone fighting over there? How could he see?
But he didn’t dare to ask and had to change direction, heading southwest.
Ling Yuxiu was also confused. She looked at Qin Mu, who explained, “Grandpa Blind has the best eyesight in our village.”
The blind man looked smug. Ling Yuxiu looked at his “eyes” and saw that his eye sockets were empty, with nothing inside. She was baffled. “How can a blind man have the best eyesight? What kind of logic is that…”
The Azure Ox hadn’t run far when, in the distance, they saw a mountain peak with sword light flashing. It was too far away, and only faint glimmers were visible. Only then did the ox truly admire the blind man.
Ling Yuxiu was astonished. “Is he really blind?”
The Butcher also praised, “The blind man’s eyesight is truly excellent.”
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